MNA: Baystate Franklin Nurses Cite Safety Risks in DPH Complaint Over Cuts to Patient Transport Services, Will Hold Press Conference July 16

Following their DPH complaint, nurses will hold a press conference on July 16 highlighting the need for safe staffing and contractual patient care protection

GREENFIELD, Mass., July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center (BFMC), represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), have filed a formal complaint with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) requesting an investigation into Baystate Health's decision to eliminate patient transport services between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., warning that the cuts are creating serious patient safety risks throughout the hospital.

The complaint states that Baystate executives have chosen to reduce essential frontline patient care support rather than prioritize investments in the caregivers and services patients depend on every day. The elimination of transport services for a critical time period forces nurses away from bedside care to move patients throughout the hospital, delaying treatment, reducing staffing on patient units, and creating unnecessary safety risks.

The DPH complaint comes as Baystate Franklin nurses continue contract negotiations focused on safe staffing and protecting local patient care. Read the full DPH complaint here.

PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS

According to the nurses' DPH complaint, Baystate's elimination of evening transport services has produced significant operational and patient safety concerns across the hospital, including:

• Emergency Department nurses are being pulled away from patients for 15 to 20 minutes or longer to transport patients to CT scans, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound, and inpatient units, reducing emergency department staffing during busy hours.
  
  
• Patients are arriving on inpatient units without proper handoffs, notification, or supervision because no transport staff are available.
  
  
• Medical-surgical nurses are leaving already thinly staffed units to transport patients, obtain blood products, and retrieve essential supplies, leaving fewer nurses available to care for patients.
  
  
• There are delays in emergency responses, patient movement, diagnostic testing, and access to critical equipment because transport staff previously performed many of these essential hospital functions.

The complaint asks DPH to investigate whether Baystate Franklin remains in compliance with Massachusetts hospital licensure regulations and nursing staffing standards.

The transport cuts were implemented following Baystate's recent layoffs affecting employees across the hospital.

"Why is Baystate cutting patient care support services while paying executives millions of dollars and pursuing major expansion projects?" said Suzanne Love, Emergency Department RN, Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "Patient transport is an essential part of safely operating a hospital. The cuts to transport services have forced nurses away from our patients, straining our staff and putting patients at risk."

Following a powerful strike authorization vote and a multi-faceted community campaign, BFMC nurses voted 98% on June 11 to reject Baystate Health's "best and final" contract offer. Since that rejection, nurses and Baystate have made progress toward a new contract, reaching tentative agreements on competitive pay to boost RN recruitment and retention, as well as staffing language for medical-surgical units. However, Baystate continues to refuse to adequately address nurse staffing needs that are essential to protecting patient care.

BFMC nurses will discuss their patient safety concerns during their July 16 press conference. They will focus on why enforceable nurse staffing contract language for the Emergency Department and Mental Health Unit is essential to protecting patients and preserving access to high-quality local healthcare in Franklin County.

"The progress we have made demonstrates the power of solidarity and proves that we have been negotiating in good faith to reach a fair agreement," said Love. "The issues that remain outstanding are critical to our patients. We cannot settle a contract that fails to provide the staffing protections our community deserves."

"Our nurses have compromised throughout these negotiations, but Baystate is still refusing to make the investments needed to ensure safe patient care," said Marissa Potter, RN, Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "We are fighting for meaningful solutions that will improve care today and help keep nurses at the bedside."

The primary remaining BFMC nurse contract issues include:

• Safe staffing, including an eighth nurse in the Emergency Department during the busiest afternoon and evening hours and restoration of dedicated Admission Nurse coverage in the Mental Health Unit.
  
  
• Affordable health insurance with contractual protections to prevent excessive premium increases from eroding nurses' wage gains over the life of the agreement.
  
  
• Fair mandatory on-call compensation for surgical services nurses who must remain available to respond immediately to life-saving emergencies.

The nurses' press conference comes after months of growing community support for the their efforts, including a petition signed by more than 700 community members, a unanimous Greenfield City Council resolution backing the nurses' contract campaign, and ongoing advocacy from patients and local residents concerned about the future of healthcare in Franklin County.

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 26,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association